| | | Don Surber
Hoist the flag
Trump just won the tariff war—and $1.35 trillion in booty
On Sunday, Trump golfed (likely scoring below his age of 79) and then met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who finalized and signed Europe’s surrender in the Trade War of 2025.
European nations will pay a 15% tariff on goods to the USA, open their markets to the USA, buy $750 billion worth of LNG and other energy products, and finally, invest another $600 billion in U.S. industry.
There will be no tariffs on goods we export to Europe. Oh, and the Europeans will purchase billions in military gear from the USA.
Now you know why Democrats don’t want him golfing. Whatever we paid for his weekend in the highlands we were paid back 100,000-fold.
The immediate loser was Canada. Bruce McGonigal tweeted:
Justin Trudeau could have signed LNG energy deals with the EU in 2022 but turned them down.
Mark Carney & Justin Trudeau directly have helped the Donald Trump MAGA agenda at the expense of Canadian prosperity.
Ursula had a bad week which began with a visit to Red China.
The Hindustan Times reported:
The Beijing EU-China summit marking 50 years of diplomatic ties turned combative as President Xi Jinping and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen traded sharp words on trade, Russia, and global order. Amid surging tariffs, Russia-Ukraine tensions, and a growing trade war, Ursula urged China to rebalance unequal economic ties and warned that Europe has reached an ‘inflection point’. Xi snapped back, dismissing EU concerns, warning isolation would follow if Europe pursued decoupling or tariff hikes. Ursula also pressed Xi to rein in support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, escalating the diplomatic standoff.
Oh, and Trump made her sign the papers in Scotland which is not a member of the EU. Scotland literally is his motherland because his mother, Mary, was born there.
There really was not much Ursula could do. She could buy from Russia and watch all hell break loose over Ukraine. She could buy from Canada and pay a 30% tariff on exports to the USA. President Trump’s was an offer she couldn’t refuse. No LNG, no EU because it gets cold in Europe and that could lead to revolution—by the Muslim imports because Greta Thunberg has more testosterone than the rest of the continent.
Upgrade to paid
Red China is next. CNBC reported, “Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators meet in Stockholm on Monday to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the center of the countries’ trade war, aiming to extend a truce keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay.
“China is facing an Aug. 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration, after Beijing and Washington reached a preliminary deal in June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs.”
Everyone else has until Friday to surrender or pay hefty tariffs. This is not a sales tax. The seller (through an importer) pays. How much of the tariff he passes along to the customer is up to him and the market because supply and demand set price.
In reporting on the EU deal, The Hill said:
Trump similarly reached a deal last week with Japan, setting a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods—lower than the 25 percent tariff Trump had threatened to impose. Also in that deal, Trump said Japan would invest $550 billion in projects in the U.S. and would open its markets to U.S. automobiles, rice and other agricultural products.
The Philippines agreed to a trade deal with the United States that would lower U.S. tariffs on its exports to from 20 percent to 19 percent, Trump announced last week. Trump had originally set a 17 percent duty on imports from the Philippines in April before warning that figure would rise to 20 percent last month.
An agreement with Indonesia would also set a tariff rate of 19 percent on its imports.
Britain’s PM will meet Trump today in Scotland to formalize their agreement. The British deal will be better for the Brexiteers than the EU deal. Hey, why not encourage others to leave the EU, which is run by the Axis of Silly (Belgium, France and Germany).
The rest of the world has until Friday to agree or face higher tariffs it is that simple. The old days of America buying cheap crap from other nations to help their economies are over. Americans are loving it.
Trending Politics reported:
Nearly half of voters are now describing President Donald Trump’s economy as “good” or bad “excellent,” with the president’s economic approval numbers particularly spiking over the past week, according to a new survey from the Wall Street Journal. All in all, the latest figures represent the most positive Journal survey for the president since 2021.
According to the poll, 47 percent of respondents now view the economy in positive terms, up from 36 percent from the poll’s last result back in April. The survey marks a significant shift in economic optimism after a yearlong trend of economic pessimism during the Joe Biden presidency.
Now at this point, every reader is asking: How does this affect Don Surber because that is really why we are all here today.
Some may worry that I will be unable to buy a Bentley, but let’s face it: the mean old wife killed that dream 5 years ago. Best she will do is give me permission to buy a new Mustang convertible but they are all ugly as sin—and by sin, I mean Rosie O’Donnell.
All this talk about keeping the 2017 tax cut costing us $4.3 trillion is bogus.
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Besides Trump’s tariffs will make up those tax cuts—which returned companies to the USA.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “The tariff revenues are amazing—$700 billion a year. That’s just net new money the government never had before. You take that for ten years, that’s $7 trillion.”
So instead of the national debt rising by $6 trillion by the end of Trump’s presidency, it could rise as little as $3 trillion. More cuts in spending and GDP growth of 3% per annum could balance the budget eventually.
But golf and EU’s surrender were not the president’s only activities this weekend: BBC reported:
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to hold talks in Malaysia on Monday in an attempt to negotiate an end to a conflict that has lasted four days.
Thailand said on Sunday a delegation led by acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai would attend, after President Donald Trump called the leaders of both countries on Saturday to press for an immediate ceasefire.
The best thing, though, was taking his grandkids to the homeland of their great-grandmother. They are adorable. |
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